A Brit in LA

Graham Shiels is certainly no stranger to our screens. Having appeared as a network guest star in over 30 shows, including 'True Blood', 'Lioness', 'Truth Be Told' and 'Star Trek:Picard'. In 2013 Graham founded 'The Graham Shield Studio'; coaching actors to book those big roles and stay employed. In this episode Graham shares the importance of training and the main techniques that he teaches. He also shares stories from throughout his lucrative career, and what not to do on those huge TV and ...

Welcome to Season 3 of a A Brit in LA!In the season premiere, Leo Richardson joins Lauren to discuss his work as a writer and producer on the phenomenal Netflix series 'YOU '. Prior to this he was a lead writer on the Fox series 'Star', Warner Brothers series 'Katy Keene' and back in England, the much loved British soap 'Eastenders'. Leo shares the pivotal moments in his career, as well as how he approaches creativity in the work he does. He gives advice for aspiring writers, what a day in th...

Things are very different on this special episode of ’A Brit in LA’ as, for the series two finale, Lauren Samuels is the one answering the questions.She is joined by her best friend, fellow actor and singer Noel Sullivan, who asks her a selection of questions sent in by listeners. By the end of this show, you’ll know a lot more about Lauren and how she spends her time pursuing the Hollywood dream in between recording episodes of this hot pod.You’ll also learn which guest has taught her the mo...

Catherine Lyn Scott was an actress for 16 years before finding her greatest talent came in helping others shine - first as a publicist for British performers in Los Angeles and then leading hugely successful Oscar campaigns.She has helped clients to 21 Oscar nominations and scored five Oscar wins in just the last seven years. No wonder she’s so in demand by ambitious and talented filmmakers.In this revealing interview with Lauren Samuels, Catherine reveals how she gets movies seen by voters a...

Kimberley Kates made her big screen debut as one of the princess babes alongside Keanu Reeves and co in much-loved movie classic ‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure’.She went on to star in a string of other films and had TV roles in the likes of ‘Seinfield’, ‘The Larry Sanders Show’ and ‘Murder She Wrote’. Then she moved behind the camera becoming a producer of several films including comedy ‘Dirty Love’ and horror pic ‘Babysitter Wanted’ and now she’s CEO of Big Screen Entertainment Gro...

David Treatman is a Broadway and West End producer behind a string of hit projects ranging from the Harry Potter parody ‘Puffs’ to the Tony Award winning play ‘Angels in America’.He is revolutionizing the stage industry and its economics by finding new revenue models, such as making top-quality films of stage performances and taking advantage of the full range of digital media opportunities.In a wide-ranging chat with Lauren Samuels, David talks about how innovations like these can give a muc...

Ever since being established in 1894, the Royal Society of Saint George - current patron King Charles III - has looked to spread the best of British around the world through good deeds and good manners.The California branch is chaired by Princess Karen Cantrell, an American philanthropist and descendent of nobility, whose lifetime of charitable works has seen her honored by world leaders.In this entertaining interview, she tells host Lauren Samuels how everyone can live like a princess and ex...

Donelle Dadigan first built up her Hollywood contacts list by selling luxury houses to A-list stars. With the money she made from that, she bought the iconic Max Factor building - where Marilyn Monroe became a blonde and Lucille Ball was turned into a redhead - and re-launched it as the Hollywood Museum.Filled with Tinseltown treasures like the time-traveling car from ‘Back to the Future,’ the Batmobile, and countless props and costumes, it’s a magnet for tourists.Donelle shares stories about...

Alexa Jago produces award-winning films and finds funding for them too. The LA-based Brit brings great experience to her work, having started off as an actress, making her movie debut alongside Kevin Costner in ‘Waterworld.’She’s a member of the board of directors at BAFTA North America and devotes herself to many more charities in between movie-making. In this enlightening interview with Lauren, Alexa explains how she found success and how you can too.Sign up to receive updates by email when...

Laura O’Donnell’s typical day will see her jumping off a building, swinging from a horse or crashing through a window. That’s because she’s a film and TV stuntwoman who has worked on everything from ‘Game of Thrones’ to ‘Casualty’.As if that’s not impressive enough, she’s also a single mother of five kids! As she tells Lauren Samuels in this engrossing and inspiring chat, her children are all action too. Laura has also written a book about her amazing life, which is being developed into a mov...

Filmmaker Frank Mannion was described by the Los Angeles Times as “so charming and crafty that he could probably talk a mortuary attendant out of a corpse.” But as he tells Lauren Samuels in this wildly entertaining episode, it takes more than sweet talking to succeed in Hollywood.It also takes money; Frank calls his production company Swipe Films because he once maxed out ten credit cards for $75,000 credit to keep one of his early films on track.Things became easier with success and his lat...

Elizabeth Blake-Thomas has quickly become one of Hollywood’s most in-demand and admired movie directors. The Brit has already worked on six films this year - the latest being ‘Hunt Club,’ starring Mickey Rourke and Mena Suvari.She has both, a book and a podcast called ‘Filmmaking Without Fear,’ designed to help independent movie makers find their creative path. She also runs a production company called ‘Mother & Daughter Entertainment’ with her actress daughter Isabella Blake-Thomas.In th...

Max Brallier couldn’t make a breakthrough as an author until he decided to write the stories he would’ve wanted to read as a kid. The result was the 10 million-selling zombie apocalypse saga ‘The Last Kids On Earth.’The series became so popular it spun off into an Emmy-winning Netflix series which features Max’s childhood hero and Star Wars icon – Mark Hamill, who turned out to be everything the lifelong Luke Skywalker fan hoped he would be.Max continued his franchise building with a video ga...

Do you need the help of a career coach to land that dream job, secure a promotion or recover from a setback? Well, this is the episode for you!Octavia Goredema is the go-to expert for career advancement and reveals the secrets for success in her hit book ‘Prep, Push, Pivot,’ as well as in this engrossing interview with Lauren Samuels.In this episode, she discusses her work with leaders at major companies like Google, Nike and Tinder. The brilliant Brit has been on a mission to help underrepre...

Bonnie Zane is a leading Hollywood casting director who knows talent when she sees it, having cast a string of hits from The Larry Sanders Show to Mad About You, and many more. Perhaps her greatest casting coup was putting Meghan Markle in her star-making role in Suits – as Bonnie tells Lauren, she saw 300 other actresses for that part before Meghan “lit up the room.”In an interview that plays like a masterclass for actors, Bonnie advises what to do to give yourself the best chance of landing...